Martin Cooke

Professor Martin Cooke holds a joint appointment between the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies and the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. As an Assistant Vice President for Leadership and Strategic Initiatives, he oversees institutional strategy while maintaining his research and teaching roles. His primary research focuses on Canadian demography, social policy, and health equity, with special attention to Indigenous populations and healthcare system challenges. He has contributed to policy discussions on aging, migration, and opioid-related public health crises through interdisciplinary methodologies.

Dr. Cooke earned his BA (Honours) from the University of Winnipeg, followed by MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of Western Ontario. His administrative responsibilities currently limit graduate student supervision, though he maintains active collaborations with researchers and policymakers.

His research explores intersections between socioeconomic status and health outcomes, particularly through spatial epidemiology and policy analysis. Recent work addresses vaccine hesitancy in Indigenous communities, anti-Indigenous healthcare racism, and opioid-related mortality trends. Over 150 peer-reviewed publications demonstrate his expertise in public health systems, demography, and social determinants of health.

Key areas of scholarly contribution include:

• Demographic analysis of Indigenous migration and urbanization
• Social policy evaluation (pensions, social assistance)
• Health inequities in addiction treatment access
• Health system responses to infectious disease outbreaks
• Cultural competency in healthcare delivery

His work frequently engages with marginalized populations, integrating community perspectives into policy recommendations. Current research trends emphasize longitudinal analyses of health disparities and systems-level interventions to improve accessibility and equity in healthcare.